Do mental health professionals have a legal duty to warn third parties?
The Regents of the University of California. The decision imposed a legal duty on mental health professionals to warn third parties should patients make threats to their safety. California’s state legislature subsequently passed a law based on the court’s ruling. The specifics of the tragedy reveal why the court made this decision.
Should psychologists comply with legal obligations?
Neither stance may seem acceptable to psychologists who believe that compliance with a legal or professional obligation would be harmful, unjust, or otherwise wrong. Absolute compliance connotes a "just following orders" mentality all too ready to sacrifice personal values and client welfare to an imperfect system of rules and regulations.
What are the legal protections for the mentally ill?
Legal protections have been put in place to ensure not only the public’s safety, but that the Constitutional rights of the mentally ill are respected while mental health professionals work to provide them with the best treatment possible.
Should psychologists take public stands on controversial issues?
Although the APA Ethics Code does not restrict how psychologists conduct themselves during their personal time, taking a public stance on a controversial issue could potentially strain professional relationships and inadvertently reflect negatively on the profession.
How did the courts treat the mentally ill?
The courts treated the severely mentally ill as wards of state under a policy known as parens patriae (Latin for “parent of the nation”), and judges frequently ordered they be committed indefinitely for their own protection. This kind of treatment had been common in the United States for decades.
What is the law that requires medical professionals to inform third parties of a threat?
Because of the case, laws that either require or permit medical professionals to inform third parties of a threat are known as Tarasoff laws, though they may also be known as “duty to warn” or “duty to protect” laws. Most states have passed similar legislation.
What is the protection from hearsay evidence?
The protection from hearsay evidence means that, should the patient not want hospital staff speaking with family members, then hospital staff is barred by law from doing so. In 1974, the United States Supreme Court upheld this decision, thereby making it the law of the land. article continues after advertisement.
How often is assisted outpatient treatment used?
Assisted outpatient treatment is also frequently utilized if a patient has been hospitalized at least twice in the past 24 hours; and if, over the course of the past five years, the patient has demonstrated a pattern of noncompliance and behavior that is threatening to themselves or others.
What happens if a judge finds a patient incompetent?
If a judge finds the patient to be incompetent, then the judge will issue what is known as a substituted treatment decision. The ruling did not affect physicians’ ability to administer treatments in emergency setting, even if the patient objects.
When did Andrew Goldman get assisted outpatient treatment?
Assisted Outpatient Treatment (Kendra’s Law) On a rainy Sunday afternoon in January 1999, Andrew Goldman, 29, descended the stairs to the subway station at 23rd Street, just feet away from Manhattan’s iconic Flatiron Building.
Do mental health professionals have to disclose information to third parties?
In others, mental health professionals may disclose this information to the targeted third party, but they are not required to do so.
Who has the right to know the content of a child's treatment?
A parent who consents on the minor's behalf generally has the right to know the content of the child's treatment. This state of affairs changes when the minor reaches the age of majority. Until that time, the law will normally give the parent access to the child's treatment. Clinical practice.
Why do psychologists need to revisit earlier discussions?
The psychologist will thus need to revisit earlier discussions and explain that, for clinical reasons, the structure of the therapy should change.
What is ethics round?
Beginning with this issue, and continuing every other month, the APA Monitor on Psychology will feature "Ethics Rounds," in which APA's Ethics Office will answer questions about the ethical issues psychologists most commonly face.
What was Michael's mother's response to his father's visitation plan?
Michael's mother, to support Michael's relationship with his father, adhered to the visitation plan strictly, but her son's anxiety and physical complaints worried her. At the outset of psychotherapy, Michael's mother and his therapist had frequent telephone and in-person consultations.
What is standard 4.03?
Standard 4.03, "Couple and Family Relationships, " states that psychologists "attempt to clarify at the outset (1) which of the individuals are patients or clients and (2) the relationship the psychologist will have to each person.". Three points emerge.
What happens to the zone of privacy as a child grows into adolescence?
As a child grows into adolescence and adulthood, the surrounding zone of privacy should increase, thus making room for a more defined sense of self and a greater sense of autonomy. A paradox thus arises: Good clinical treatment may require what the law generally refuses, that is, a zone of privacy.
Why is it important to treat adolescents?
An important aspect of treatment is to foster an individual's autonomy, and a great pleasure of treating adolescents is to watch as they come to enjoy their growing independence. One aspect of independence is privacy.
Who was the psychologist who filed the Brown v Board of Education case?
Board of Education, the landmark 1954 U.S. Supreme Court case that ended racial segregation in public schools, thanks to research by psychologists Kenneth Clark, Ph D, and Mamie Phipps Clark, PhD.
How many Supreme Court decisions have cited APA briefs?
The Supreme Court has specifically cited APA’s briefs in 23 of its decisions, as have various lower courts in 20 decisions. In a 2004 survey in the Journal of Law & Politics, 70 Supreme Court clerks who served between 1966 and 2001 said that APA was among the few friends of the court whose briefs they actually read.
What is the APA evidence?
In it, APA provided evidence that psychologists have the education and training to properly assess and diagnose mental illness, and the D.C. Circuit agreed. From then on, psychologists had the critical sanction they needed to testify about mental illness in criminal cases.
Why was Abigail Fisher denied admission to the University of Texas at Austin?
The case: Abigail Fisher, a white Texas resident, contended that she was denied admission to the University of Texas at Austin because of the school’s policy of considering race as a factor in admissions. When the U.S. Supreme Court decided to hear the case in 2013, it was to determine whether to uphold Grutter v.
When was McCarver v. APA filed?
Joined by the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities and others, APA refiled a brief it had filed in a 2001 case, McCarver v.
Which court ruled that same sex marriage was constitutional?
After all the district courts ruled for the plaintiffs, the rulings were appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit , which held that these state bans on same-sex marriage were constitutional. The U.S. Supreme Court then agreed to review the case. APA’s evidence:
Can Blue Shield pay psychologists?
Blue Shield and physicians have long entertained anti-competitive policies toward psychologists, resulting in increased costs to consumers. The ruling: Psychologists can bill for their services independent of and on an equal footing with psychiatrists—and can sue if insurers reject their bills.
Why are laws created, changed, or thrown away?
Laws are created, changed, or thrown away because as time passes, the values of a society also change. What is acceptable today may be unacceptable in the future; as values change, so do the laws governing the people.
Is psychology black and white?
The legal system is “black and white”, while psychology is full of gray areas. You will never hear a psychologist say, “This causes that”; instead they will say it is highly likely “this causes that”, leaving room for the chance that “this doesn’t cause that”.
Can police hire psychics?
It is not unheard of for police to hire psychics to aid them in solving a case. Psychologists would not consider the use of psychics to be reliable or replicable. Lawyers and judges often rely on their own life experience or subjective opinions.
What happens when a conflict is disclosed?
In theory, when a conflict is disclosed, the affected party can evaluate the disclosure, discount any conflicted advice and make an objective determination about the value of continued representation.
What did the Arizona appellate panel disagree with?
Arizona, 1981). The judges on the appellate panel disagreed as to the specifics of what should be required of a trial court judge who accepts a defendant's waiver. They did, however, hold that the exchange between Cortez and the trial judge was not sufficient to constitute an adequate waiver of the attorney's conflict.
Is an advisor trustworthy?
And, even more insidiously, when an advisor discloses a conflict, the advisor can seem even more trustworthy. As a client considers whether to waive a conflict, he or she may be disinclined to second-guess his or her decision to hire the attorney or to act in a way that would signal distrust in the lawyer.
Does disclosure increase conflict bias?
Ironically, disclosure might even increase the extent to which the conflict biases the attorney's advice. In particular, psychologists have found that acting ethically at an earlier time can result in less ethical behavior at a later time (Monin & Miller, 2001).
What is the role of a psychologist in conflicting evidence?
There are several examples, such as this, of conflicting evidence in the literature on controversial issues; however, it is psychologists’ professional duty to critically evaluate what they read and take into account limitations of the studies before drawing conclusions and holding a public position based on research.
What should be taken into consideration before a psychologist takes a public stance on controversial issues?
Finally, several standards in the Ethics Code should be taken into consideration before psychologists choose to take a public stance on controversial issues. Psychologists may want to take into account how current and future professional relationships may be affected by their behavior during their leisure time.
What is the role of psychologists in the workplace?
Psychologists uphold professional standards of conduct, clarify their professional roles and obligations, accept appropriate responsibility for their behavior, and seek to manage conflicts of interest that could lead to exploitation or harm. (APA, 2002, p.
When does APA take a stance?
Given that APA only takes a stance when there is considerable scientific evidence supporting a particular direction on an issue, this could lead individuals or organizations to assume that research has been done supporting an argument that psychologists are making in their leisure time.
When should psychologists avoid professional relationships?
Standard 3.06 (conflict of interest) specifies that psychologists should avoid professional relationships when there is the possibility for impairment in objectivity or if the relationship could be harmful or exploitative (APA, 2002).
Should a psychologist comment on a subject?
If these professional expectations have not been met, the psychologist should either not comment on the subject or clearly state that his/her comments are based on personal beliefs, are not based on professional judgment, and are not supported by research, the institutions in which they are affiliated, or APA.
Does the APA Ethics Code restrict psychologists?
Although the APA Ethics Code does not restrict how psychologists conduct themselves during their personal time, taking a public stance on a controversial issue could potentially strain professional relationships and inadvertently reflect negatively on the profession.
What is a psychologist?
(a) Psychologists provide services, teach, and conduct research with populations and in areas only within the boundaries of their competence, based on their education, training, supervised experience, consultation, study, or professional experience.
What should Dr. Berman do before addressing what he should do?
Before addressing what Dr. Berman should do, it can be helpful to examine Dr. Berman's experience of the situation, the psychoanalytic "countertransference.". This aspect of ethical dilemmas—the psychologist's experience—has received far too little attention.
What happens if Dr. Berman decides not to treat Jessica?
Berman decides that he does not have the competence to treat Jessica or that he cannot provide a clinically appropriate level of treatment, and that continuing treatment therefore risks exposing Jessica to greater harm than discontinuing treatment, Dr. Berman might experience himself to be in an ethical dilemma . Dr.
What does Jessica hear about Dr. Berman?
When Jessica hears this, she initially becomes more compliant and tearfully proclaims that Dr. Berman is a lifesaver and refuses to work with someone else. However, after a session or two, Jessica reverts to her old behavior, reinforcing Dr. Berman's feelings of incompetence.
Why was Jessica Berman referred to Dr. Berman?
Jessica was initially referred for complaints of difficulty managing anger, difficulty with interpersonal relationships and depression. As the sessions progress, Dr. Berman realizes that Jessica has very high suicidal ideation and multiple plans to kill herself, although without apparent intent to carry them out.
What is the ethics code?
The Ethics Code joins good clinical thinking with our values in setting the contours of termination. Principle A in the Code, Beneficence and Nonmaleficence, begins "Psychologists strive to benefit those with whom they work and take care to do no harm.".
Is a psychologist competent?
A psychologist who is not competent is likely to cause harm. Good clinical thinking may recommend termination as the best way to avoid harming a client. Although a client may object to ending treatment, the psychologist retains responsibility for making treatment decisions based on sound professional judgments.
Danger to Self Or Others
Right to Object to Treatment
- Numerous cases heard throughout these two decades also examined whether a patient has the right to refuse treatment. In Rivers v. Katz, which was heard by the New York State Court of Appeals, the court ruled that patients do have a right to refuse treatmentwith two notable exceptions. The first is if they are legally incompetent. The second is unde...
Duty to Warn
- While it is well-known that one of the Hippocratic Oath’s guiding principles is often said to be primum non nocere(“first do no harm”), an equally important ethical imperative concerns patient-physician confidentiality. It’s not only the Hippocratic Oath that forbids doctors from divulging information that they learn while treating a patient; medical professionals can also be held liabl…
Assisted Outpatient Treatment
- On a rainy Sunday afternoon in January 1999, Andrew Goldman, 29, descended the stairs to the subway station at 23rd Street, just feet away from Manhattan’s iconic Flatiron Building. Though Goldman had been diagnosed with schizophrenia a decade beforehand, he was living on his own and receiving treatment at an outpatient center. His treatment was entirely voluntary and, unfort…